ROME (Interstat) — Donyell Malen scored twice to lead AS Roma to a 2-0 victory over Cagliari in a Serie A match Monday at Stadio Olimpico.

The forward opened the scoring in the 25th minute and sealed the win with his second goal in the 65th. His performance keyed a dominant start for Roma, which began its league campaign with a win. Cagliari, which saw Alberto Dossena booked early in the fifth minute, struggled to generate offense in its season opener.

The result exceeded the projection of Interstat’s game simulator, which had predicted a 1-0 Roma win. Their ELO system gave Roma a 73.5% probability to win. The match featured seven yellow cards, with six different players cautioned.